
VIDEO | Andonović: Belgrade hopes it could be the site of the historic meeting between Trump and Putin
Preparations are underway for a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President-elect Donald Trump, Trump's national security adviser, Mike Walz, announced.
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"Preparations are already underway," he said, without specifying the possible date and format of the meeting.
Trump has previously stated several times that he is ready for talks with Putin, including a discussion on resolving the conflict in Ukraine.
The future US president said on January 10 that Putin had expressed a desire to meet with him and that preparations were underway. The Kremlin announced the day before, on January 9, that it had not received any requests from Trump regarding a conversation with Putin.
According to Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov, it will be possible to start organizing such contacts after the US president officially takes office. At the same time, Moscow welcomes Trump's desire to conduct a dialogue and notes that no preconditions are required for negotiations between the presidents, only mutual desire and political will are needed.
On December 19, Putin said during a live broadcast that he was ready to meet with Trump.
"I don't know when we'll meet. I haven't spoken to him at all in over four years. I'm ready for this and I'll be ready for the meeting," he said.
The place and time of possible negotiations have not yet been discussed. Switzerland has expressed its readiness to host the summit at the highest level. There, in Geneva, the last negotiations between the Russian and American leaders took place in 2021. The conversation between Biden and Putin lasted almost four hours.
Although Swiss authorities are ready to host a meeting between the two leaders, it is emphasized that Switzerland will not take the initiative on this issue. The newspaper "Le Temps" indicates that Switzerland is only one of the countries ready to host the meeting, emphasizing that the initiative for the meeting would have to come from Trump and Putin.
Switzerland, as a neutral country with a long tradition of diplomacy, could provide an appropriate setting for a meeting between the two leaders who will commit to a solution to the conflict in Ukraine. This news is causing great interest in the world, while further developments in the situation are awaited.
Belgrade also offered to host this historic meeting.
Although it is currently difficult to say how likely it is to succeed, many in Serbia adore both Russian President Vladimir Putin and future US President Donald Trump – hence the logic that Serbia would be the site of the historic meeting of these two.
Belgrade condemned Russia's military aggression against Ukraine, but is the only country in Europe that has not lifted sanctions against Russia.
Serbian President Vucic has good relations with both Putin and Trump, further raising hopes that Belgrade could host their historic meeting.
"Even if the meeting never happens, Serbia is recognized on the international stage today as a country that is capable, that is credible, and therefore is considered one of the possible locations for such summits and meetings," Serbian diplomacy believes.
You can watch the video of the objective analysis above in the text.